


The Timeless Child

by emmiegrace



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/F, Reunions, Timeless Child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-09
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-08-21 04:11:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16569389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmiegrace/pseuds/emmiegrace
Summary: Timeless Child, that’s what they kept saying.Over and over, everywhere they went, all throughout time and space, through cold stars and supernovas, black holes and tumbling galaxies, repeated like a mantra- the Timeless Child.It whispered in the back of the Doctor’s mind, pushing at a memory old and buried, but not forgotten- never forgotten (no matter how hard she tried).





	The Timeless Child

**Author's Note:**

> Basically my theory for the "timeless child" mystery in season 11.

_Timeless Child,_ that’s what they kept saying.

Over and over, everywhere they went, all throughout time and space, through cold stars and supernovas, black holes and tumbling galaxies, repeated like a mantra:  _the Timeless Child._

It whispered in the back of the Doctor’s mind, pushing at a memory old and buried, but not forgotten—never forgotten (no matter how hard she tried).

But _what?_ What about her? Why was the universe whispering about someone who wasn’t even—she wasn’t even… It was a daft name anyway. What did that mean, “timeless”? Timeless how?

 

The Doctor froze when she saw her, boots scraping against the ship’s floor with a loud squeak. Behind her, Yaz crashed into her back, causing Ryan and Graham to stumble as well.

“Doctor?” Yaz asked, but she sounded far away and fuzzy to the Doctor. “What’s happened? Why are you stopping?”

“Shouldn’t we be running?” Ryan piped up incredulously, looking over his shoulder as he did.

The Doctor shook her head. They shouldn’t be running _from_ anything. _She_ should be running _towards_ though. She should be sprinting to the woman standing on the other end of the corridor, still clearly on high alert as she peeked around the corner for more incoming Daleks.

It was Graham who spotted her, finally. “Who’s that? She shouldn’t be here. You said the Daleks were dangerous! Why is there another human here?” He made to start marching past the Doctor, intent on giving the mysterious woman a stern talking to about the dangers of wandering into a ship she didn’t know well enough—ignoring, of course, that he had done exactly the same thing not ten minutes ago.

The Doctor held her hand up to stop him. “No… it’s… it’s fine,” she managed to get out, hardly breathing now as her respiratory bypass kicked in.

“What do you mean it’s fine?” Graham retorted. “Were you not the one ten seconds ago frantically shoving us out the door the moment you saw those killer tea kettles-”

“Shut up,” she cut him off, eyes wide.

The woman had heard them arguing, and she turned to them now. The Doctor sucked in a breath, preparing for the moment—the moment she realised. But it never came. It wasn’t like last time. There was no elated surprise, no wide happy smiles or desperate sprinting. The Doctor couldn’t even get her feet unstuck from the floor as the blonde started making slow progression towards them.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she hissed at them. “Don’t you know how dangerous—”

“Well we could ask the same as you,” Ryan shot back defensively, raising his brows.

The woman glared at him. “I’ve been on this ship for _weeks_ hacking into the Dalek database. They were my last hope of finding…” She drifted off suddenly, shaking her head. “There’s nothing there. It doesn't make sense. Nothing about this place makes sense anymore.” She was muttering more to herself now than anything.

“Well unlike you we don’t want to be here.” Ryan seemed unaffected by the woman’s mostly incoherent response. “Our ship, the T-”

“It broke down,” the Doctor interrupted him loudly, and the woman’s eyes snapped over to meet hers. There was no recognition there—not even a flash as she squinted at her curiously. “We’re trying to find a way out. Same as you.”

“Right well, guess there’s no reason we can’t do that together.” The woman looked around them again anxiously. “We need to get a move on though, best not to stay in one place too long around here. Introductions can wait.”

She turned on her heel and started leading them further out of the bowels of the Dalek ship. The Doctor still couldn’t move her feet or catch her breath though, and she allowed Ryan and Graham to move on ahead of her.

Yaz stuck by her side, looking at her worriedly. “Doctor, what’s wrong? You look like you’ve see a ghost.”

The Doctor shook her head. “I have,” she whispered, before finally managing to lift her left leg to follow them down the corridor.

“I’m Rose,” the woman said as she peeked around yet another corner. She didn’t have a weapon on her, so Ryan couldn’t figure out what her plan was if she did run into a Dalek, but he stuck behind her nonetheless- figuring if she’s really survived weeks, she could probably get them though the next five minutes. “Rose Tyler.”

The Doctor lost her balance a bit then, the name she hadn’t heard in so long banging on her skull. Yaz was the only one who noticed though, and the Doctor waved off her worried glance.

“I’m Ryan, this is Graham, and Yaz, and-”

“Jane,” the Doctor interrupted the young man’s loose tongue yet again. “Jane Pond,” she managed to think on her toes— ‘Jane Smith’ immediately screaming TOO OBVIOUS, and she let the first surname that popped into her head tumble out of her mouth. She ignored the incredulous look her friends were giving her.

If Rose caught anything out of the ordinary, she didn’t say it. Instead smirking and sending them a small polite glance. “Nice to meet you all. On any other day I’d be keen to hearing how such an eclectic group of people came to be friends but…” she drifted off as she focused again on leading them through the tunnels she knew well now. “Space travel, I get it, tend to just pick up strays along the way.”

“Well, actually—” Graham started.

“And also,” Rose shot the older man a cheeky sort of grin, “now really doesn’t seem like the time for sharing origin stories.”

They continued on, the Doctor overtly aware of the fact that they were getting closer and closer to the TARDIS with every passing step. Beside her, Yaz tugged on her arm. “You know her,” she accused the Time Lord at a whisper. “You know Rose.”

The Doctor pressed her lips together, keeping her eyes trained ahead of her. “A long time ago…”

Yaz waited for that sentence to end, but when it never came she spoke again. “Then why doesn’t she seem to know you…?”

The Doctor shook her head. “Last she saw me I was a dashing fit bloke wearing pinstripe suits and sandshoes. And that was hundreds of years ago… she shouldn’t even be alive.”

“Why don’t you tell her you’re you?”

The Doctor finally looked over to her friend then, he eyes wide and pleading and _sad._ “Right now, she’s looking at me like she doesn’t know me,” she whispered, “but once she knows and she realises…” The Doctor looked absolutely miserable as she shook her head. “I can’t handle her looking like she doesn’t… The disappointment—like I’ve let her down.”

Yaz studied the ancient woman’s face for a long time before it finally hit her. “You love her,” she said, and it wasn’t a question.

The Doctor didn’t answer.

Graham quickened his pace until he was next to Rose. “So who are you looking for then?”

Rose glanced over to him minutely. “Who say says I’m looking for anyone?”

“You did,” Graham answered matter of factly, and then shrugged. “In more or less words. You said you were looking, and I saw the face you made. You’ve lost someone.”

Rose smirked. “He’d like you,” she said, again seeming more to talk to herself than him, like it was an old habit she couldn’t shake—so used to being alone. She took a deep breath. “So what about you lot then?” she called over her shoulder. “Humans?”

“Yep!” the Doctor exclaimed, again speaking over Ryan. “All of us, human. Human beings. Human as it gets, us. The four of us, humans. Homo sapiens.”

Rose shot the woman a curious look, tilting her head and raising her brows slightly as she looked her up and down. The Doctor thought she saw something behind her eyes—like a flash of hope as she considered her. But quick as it came it was gone as Rose looked back down, seeming to be mentally chastising herself. “Right, well… okay.”

“Are you human?” Ryan asked, and then flinched when Yaz hit his arm for it, having been reprimanded many times now for asking people’s species. “What? She asked us!”

Rose laughed at that. “I used to be,” she answered easily, just casually making the Doctor’s vision tunnel.

“What’s that mean? Used to be human?” Ryan repeated incredulously.

The Doctor felt her hearts beating out of her chest as Rose answered. “There… was an accident. When I was younger— much younger. God I was practically a child then…” She shook her head.

“What happened?” Yaz whispered, surreptitiously grabbing onto the Doctor’s coat as she felt her panicking beside her.

“It’s a long story,” Rose sighed. “Let’s just say this is hardly the first time I’ve encountered the Daleks.”

“But what does that mean?” Ryan insisted. “The Daleks made you not-human? Is that a thing that can happen?”

Rose shrugged noncommittally. “No, I did it to myself. I’m just sort of… timeless.”

All three of their heads snapped around to look at the Doctor then, but she’d suddenly lost the ability to form coherent sentences. “How—how long?” She managed to stutter out.

“Oh that was… 400 years ago now? Give or take? They all start to blur together after a while. My husband, he said that would happen. I didn’t believe it until after he was gone…” She drifted off as she realised the rest of them had stopped moving.

The Doctor was staring at her while the others stared at the Doctor.

“When—when did he die?” she asked, the whisper sounding broken.

Rose pulled her chin back at that, furrowing her brow. “Centuries ago,” she answered, a heavy weight settling on her shoulders. “He promised me forever but it was barely even fifty years.”

The Doctor shook her head. “How?”

“What’s it matter?” Rose snapped, crossing her arms in front of her protectively, “I don’t know you.”

The Doctor felt her world shatter at those words, both her hearts losing all sense of dignity as they broke into a million pieces. “Rose…” she choked out.

Rose’s ears rang. No one said her name like that anymore. Only one person said her name like that. And it had been so long. She shook her head vehemently, tears springing to her eyes. “You’re joking,” she said.

“I’m sorry,” the Doctor whispered. “Rose, I am so sorry.”

Rose’s eyes snapped up to meet hers. “Why?”

The Doctor shook her head. “Because I didn’t know. I didn’t know that the vortex could—I never would have—you… I thought you were human.”

“Don’t you dare apologise for that. I loved him. I love-” She cut herself off, curling her hands into fists and digging her nails into her palm.

“I’m sorry I’m different then. I’m sorry I’m not who you want me to be. I’m sorry I changed. You wasted your time-”

“God, you’re thick,” Rose cut her off with an angry sniff. “You think I care what you look like?”

“Well— I— you—” the Doctor sputtered.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Rose demanded. “The second you saw me, why didn’t you tell me? Have you already forgotten about me?”

“No, no, of course not. I could never forget you. How could I ever forget you? I just thought you wouldn’t… and I couldn’t face…”

“Couldn’t face what?” Rose insisted, making her say it.

The Doctor’s eyes met hers slowly. “I couldn’t face you not loving me,” she whispered miserably.

“Oh, Doctor,” Rose shook her head and took long sweeping strides towards the woman, placing her hands either side of her face and pulling her into a kiss. Eventually, the Doctor caught up and she wrapped her arms around the shorter woman’s waist, kissing her back passionately. They broke apart and Rose rested her forehead against hers. Tears were streaming down both of their faces. “I’ll never stop loving you.”

“Rose Tyler,” the Doctor whispered reverently, “I love you.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> If you're reading Mad, Beautiful, Fantastic: sorry, my life's been a bit hectic at the moment. I'm doing my best. I've got a holiday coming up wherein I won't be drowning in school work, so hopefully soon I'll post the next chapter.
> 
> In the meantime, leave comments and kudos ❤︎  
> (I really really wanna discuss this theory that not enough people are talking about!)


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